Name and Location
Laguna Salada uranium/vanadium project, Chubut, Argentina.

Client
U3O8.

Project Description
The Laguna Salada project is based on indicated resources of 47.3-million tonnes at an average grade of 60 parts per million (ppm) of uranium and 550 ppm of vanadium. Inferred resources are estimated at 20.8-million tonnes at an average grade of 85 ppm of uranium and 590 ppm of vanadium

A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the Laguna Salada project envisages a mine producing an average of 640 000 lb/y of uranium over the ten-year mine life. The mine will also produce 960 000 t/y of vanadium.

The mining operation considers using two 400 t/h capacity continuous surface miners that cut a 30 cm to –40 cm layer of unconsolidated gravel with each pass along a trench.

Gravel cut from the leading edge of the trench will be trucked a short distance by 50 t truck-trailers to one of two 360-t/h-capacity mobile beneficiation units where the gravel will be washed over screens to separate the pebbles and coarse sand from the fine uranium-bearing material. About 90% of the damp gravel will be returned to the trailing edge of the trench to be levelled to the land’s original topography and replanted with indigenous flora.

This reclamation will be continuous throughout the mine life and ensures that there will not be any open excavation on completion of mining. The fine mineralised material derived from the gravel – 8% of the original mass from the Guanaco area of the deposit and 11% from the Lago Seco area – will be mixed with water and pumped to a central hydrometallurgical plant.

Fine material from Lago Seco will enter a hydrocyclone system for further beneficiation; the fine material in the overflow, containing the bulk of the uranium, will then be mixed with fine material from the Guanaco sector for further processing. Residual gypsum in the combined fines will be leached with saline shallow groundwater from the property and the sulphate separated from that solution in a membrane system so that the saline water can be recirculated. Uranium and vanadium pentoxide will be extracted by using alkaline leach at a temperature of 80 °C, followed by the precipitation of a uranium/vanadium intermediate product.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The PEA is based on a $60/lb uranium price and $5.50/lb for vanadium to yield a net present value of $55-million at a 7.5% discount, with a pretax internal rate of return of 24% and a payback period of 2.5 years.

Value
$134-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The next steps toward developing the Laguna Salada deposit will be further hydrometallurgical testwork and an on-site pilot plant, in which beneficiation tests will be conducted, both of which will be to feasibility standards.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
U3O8 VP investor relations Nancy Chan-Palmateer, tel +1 416 868 1491, fax +1 416 868 1497 or email nancy@u3o8corp.com.